Miscellaneous Useful Resources

• Application Compatibility Toolkit 3.0 [10/6/03]
• Cliff's Systems Management Blog [17/12/04]
• Linktionary [23/7/03]
• Jerry's Security Weblog [17/11/04]
• Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) Version 1.1.1 Is Available [16/7/03]
• Microsoft Product Support's Customer Configuration Capture Tools [10/6/03]
• Office Update Inventory Tool Detection Files [10/6/03]
• Use PsExec to Execute Command Remotely [29/7/03]

Application Compatibility Toolkit 3.0

Contributed By: Cliff Hobbs [MVP SMS]
The Windows Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) version 3.0 for Windows 2000 SP3 or later, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 contains the tools and documentation you need to design, deploy, and support applications on these platforms. Tools include the latest versions of the Microsoft Windows Application Compatibility Analyzer that simplifies application inventory and compatibility testing, the Windows Application Verifier that assists developers and testers in locating common compatibility issues during the development cycle, and the Compatibility Administrator that provides access to the necessary compatibility fixes to support legacy applications in Windows…

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=7fc46855-b8a4-46cd-a236-3159970fde94&DisplayLang=en

Cliff's Systems Management Blog

http://myitforum.techtarget.com/blog/chobbs/

Jerry's Security Weblog

http://msmvps.com/secure/

Linktionary

Contributed By: Cliff Hobbs [MVP SMS]
Linktionary is an on-line dictionary that includes extensive links to help you further your network research and training. You'll find Web links and links to related entries under each topic:

http://www.linktionary.com/linktionary.html

Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) Version 1.1.1 Is Available

Contributed By: Cliff Hobbs [MVP SMS]
Version 1.1.1 of the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer tool (MBSA) is now available. This tool centrally scans Windows-based computers for common security misconfigurations and generates individual security reports for each computer that it scans. MBSA runs on computers that run Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000, and Windows XP. MBSA can scan for security vulnerabilities on computers that run Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003. MBSA scans for common security misconfigurations in Windows, Internet Information Services (IIS), SQL Server, Internet Explorer, and Microsoft Office. MBSA also scans for missing security updates in Windows, IIS, SQL Server, Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, Exchange Server, and Exchange 2000 Server. A graphical user interface (GUI) and command-line interface are available in MBSA V1.1.1.

MBSA V1.1 replaces the standalone HFNetChk tool and fully exposes all HFNetChk v3.81 switches in the MBSA command-line interface (Mbsacli.exe). MBSA V1.1.1 includes v3.82 of the HFNetChk engine:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=320454

Microsoft Product Support's Customer Configuration Capture Tools

Contributed By: Cliff Hobbs [MVP SMS]
Download the scripted system configuration gathering tools. The Microsoft Platform Support Reporting Utility facilitates the gathering of critical system and logging information used in troubleshooting support issues…

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=cebf3c7c-7ca5-408f-88b7-f9c79b7306c0&displaylang=en

Office Update Inventory Tool Detection Files

Contributed By: Cliff Hobbs [MVP SMS]
The Office Update Inventory Tool Detection information provides the Office Update Inventory Tool with detection information for the latest updates to Office 2000 and Office XP. The Office Update Inventory Tool allows administrators to inventory the state of updates across all of their Office installations and generate reports on the information…

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=f20f7be4-b27f-40f0-b87c-32b9b39f4493&DisplayLang=en

Use PsExec to Execute Command Remotely

Contributed By: Cliff Hobbs [MVP SMS]
PsExec is part of the PsTools suite, an invaluable set of free utilities that everyone should have in their tools arsenal. The following sums up PsExec:

"Utilities like Telnet and remote control programs like Symantec's PC Anywhere let you execute programs on remote systems, but they can be a pain to set up and require that you install client software on the remote systems that you wish to access. PsExec is a light-weight telnet-replacement that lets you execute processes on other systems, complete with full interactivity for console applications, without having to manually install client software. PsExec's most powerful uses include launching interactive command-prompts on remote systems and remote-enabling tools like IpConfig that otherwise do not have the ability to show information about remote systems"